The YAWP: Villanova's Graduate English Program Blog

We are excited to announce that Professor Kamran Javadizadeh recently published a new article, "Robert Frost at Midlife," in The Yale Review.  In his article, Dr. Javadizadeh presents Robert Frost as a midlife poet grappling with his career amidst evolving poetic trends. His astute readings of "Nothing Gold Can Stay," "To Earthward," and "I Will Sing You One-O" offer insight into Frost's preoccupation with mortality, loneliness, and the inevitable passage of time. Click here to read the full article in Dr. Javadizadeh's elegant prose.  If podcasts are more your thing, be sure to check out Professor Javadizadeh's "Close Readings," available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts . 

Although people often think humanities research is conducted by individuals, it is always collaborative. For Professor Mary Mullen, there is no greater pleasure than thinking with other people and refining research and writing with them. Professor Mullen's recently published co-edited volume, with Professor Renee Fox, titled   Race, Violence, and Form: Reframing Nineteenth-Century Ireland , is the product of several collaborative conversations at the University of Notre Dame, Villanova University, and the University of California, Santa Cruz. The volume is dedicated to Sara Maurer, Mary's undergraduate professor, mentor, and friend, who dreamed up ideas behind the book.  For more about this important volume, see  this recent blog  post from Liverpool University Press.

We hope you can be present on Friday, April 24, from 2:30 to 4 p.m. in the Driscoll Atrium to celebrate the launch of the 2026 edition of   CONCEPT , Villanova's interdisciplinary journal of graduate studies in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. We are pleased to report that English is again well-represented this year, with Guadalupe Martinez, Carly Johnson, and Griffyn Leeds contributing articles. You can find more information about their papers below:   CONCEPT 2026   Guadalupe Martinez,  “Education, Relationships, and Movement in   Female American  and   Woman of Colour”     Carly Johnson,  “Publicity, Power, and Perception: Research in Entertainment PR” Griffyn Leeds,  “Tuberculosis and Incest in  The Fall of the House of Usher" We hope you can join us to congratulate the authors, as well as thank the student editors and peer reviewers. We look forward to celebrating with you around great food, drink and convers...

Dr. Lauren Shohet has been crisscrossing the country lately presenting on Shakespeare, Milton, AI, and more, so we thought it would be a good time to catch up with her and discuss her teaching and scholarship. To begin with, Dr. Shohet gave a lecture at the Huntington Library on January 31 st on “(In)Visibility and Mediation: Milton’s Eve,” in which she also discussed vanitas paintings (more on this later). Then, in February, she attended the Renaissance Society of America conference in San Francisco, where she gave a talk as part of the book history discussion group. In addition, while in San Francisco, Dr. Shohet also presided over Milton Society events. Finally, in early April, she attended the Shakespeare Association Conference in Denver and presented on Shakespeare and AI. Regarding mediation and Milton’s Eve, Dr. Shohet explained that she is in the middle of a long project that examines mediation in Paradise Lost-- as she put it, “What it is for angels and for the Son of God, t...

By Aria Gray MA '26 Late in the afternoon on March 11th, a handful of professors, administrators, and students gathered in the St. Augustine Center for the Villanova English Teaching Roundtable. The event was a casual yet informative conversation for all present, giving potential future teachers a chance to glean some helpful advice while giving current educators the opportunity to share their thoughts on the contemporary educational landscape. A panel of four faculty members, Administrator Mike Malloy, Program Director Mary Mullen, Prof. Yumi Lee, and Prof. Evan Radcliffe, fielded questions from first- and second-year graduate students over dinner, addressing the personal and professional sides of the profession. Discussion topics ranged from the specific, such as “How should my approach change from a high school to a graduate level?” and “What expectations should I set for myself in my first year?”, to the existential, with concerns being raised over the future of AI and how to b...